WHAT IS STORIES OUT LOUD?
Stories Out Loud is a mental health platform for storytelling and resource sharing. Their mission is to create a global brave space for people to share their mental health stories with others who feel lonely in their journeys so that we all can see the universality of our experiences. Simultaneously, they facilitate local-resource sharing through a database of resources for mental health help (psychologists, therapists, mental health nonprofits, etc.), which encourages more people to seek professional help in their area.
WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY?
Survey Data
Interview Conclusions
Interviews were conducted with young people (20-25) in Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH) and the U.S. where the Stories Out Loud team concluded:
Bosnian people are not prone to seeking help nor discussing mental health even when they understand the importance of it
Interviewees suggest that going to a psychologist or mental health professional for help is important but they still fail to go
As a consequence of such a passive approach towards their own mental health, people say that it would be most useful for them to hear stories of other people going through similar experiences as that would not push them out of their comfort zone
Older generations and passive institutions are one of the biggest obstacles in the wider mental health discussion
People in the U.S. are more open to seeking mental health help, but help can be costly
Additional Research
As of 2017, about 10.7% of the world's population, 792 million individuals, have suffered from some kind of mental health issue affecting their everyday lives.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI), the average delay between onset of mental illness symptoms and treatment, in the United States, is 11 years.
— the National Alliance on Mental Health
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is no significant research on the number of people suffering from mental health issues. The only available data that could lend itself as an indicator of the current state of mental health is the common practice of avoiding professional help and purchasing anti-anxiety and antidepressants via illegitimate prescriptions. In 2016, more than a million packages of prescription antidepressants were sold in Bosnia, a country of 3.5 million.
MEET THE STORIES OUT LOUD TEAM
This project was funded by a grant from the United States Department of State. The opinions, findings, and conclusions stated herein are those of the author[s] and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.
